The Social Language Development Test–Adolescent: Normative Update (SLDT-A: NU) assesses language-based social skills. Specifically, it measures students’ ability to make inferences, and interpret and respond to social interaction. Performance on the test differentiates typically developing students from those with autism spectrum disorder.

All-new reliability and validity studies include diagnostic accuracy analyses, which are the most rigorous techniques for establishing validity today. These analyses involve the computation of sensitivity and specificity indexes and the receiving operating characteristic/area under curve (ROC/AUC) statistic.

Audio files for the Interpreting Ironic Statements subtest are available for use or download online.

Description of the Test

SLDT – A: NU has five subtests (Making Inferences, Interpreting Social Language, Problem Solving, Social Interpretation, and Interpreting Ironic Statements) that yield scaled scores. A composite score, called the Social Language Development Index, represents overall performance on the subtests. The Examiner’s Manual discusses the test’s theoretical and research-based foundation, item development, standardization, administration and scoring procedures, normative tables, and guidelines for using and interpreting the test’s results. The manual also includes reliability and validity studies conducted with students with typical language abilities and students previously diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.

The average coefficient alpha ranges between .76 and .86 for the subtests and is .95 for the composite. New validity studies demonstrate the test’s ability to differentiate students with autism spectrum disorder from typically developing students. The results demonstrate that a Social Language Development Index cutoff score of 90 resulted in a sensitivity of .71, a specificity of .96, and a ROC/AUC of .90.